In Praise of Vacant Lots

It’s easy to talk about the importance of the commons in grand terms—vast stretches of breathtaking wilderness, publicly funded advances in
science and technology, essential cultural and civic institutions, the
air and water which we all depend on for survival.

But let’s not forget the lowly commons all around that enliven and
enrich our lives. Things like sidewalks, playgrounds, community
gardens, murals, neighborhood hang-outs, and vacant lots. Especially
vacant lots.

Modern society’s obsession with efficiency, productivity and
purposefulness sometimes blind us to the epic possibilities of empty
spaces that aren’t serving any profitable economic function. The word
“vacant” itself implies that these places are devoid of value.

In many places today commoners are working to make sure
that vacant lots can delight successive generations of kids.

But think back to all the imaginative uses you could discover for
vacant land as a kid. In my neighborhood we squeezed a baseball
diamond, 6-hole golf course, horseshoe pit and vegetable garden (right
behind the third base line) into the lot behind my house. My dad mowed
the expanse of weeds every week, but it belonged to every kid in the
neighborhood. All summer long, we’d gather there after breakfast to plot
our adventures for the day.

In the back of my mind I always knew that someone else owned the
land and that some sad day a house would rise where we swung five-irons
on bumpy fairways and picked ripe cantaloupes, but I am so grateful it
was ours for a while.

Thankfully, in many places today commoners are working to make sure
that vacant lots can delight successive generations of kids.

Jonathan Rowe, who wrote with keen insight and love about the commons until his death last year, became a champion of shared public space in his town, Point Reyes, California, where several vacant lots on Main Street serve as social hubs for the community.

The 596 acres website
offers detailed information on how to begin the process of turning
vacant lots into community commons.

Rowe and his colleague Elizabeth Barnet of the West Marin Commons
highlighted the importance of these privately owned spaces, and the
threat that one day they may disappear from the public realm. Just a
few months before his death, the group secured a long-term lease for
land at the corner of Main and 4th, which is now commonly called Jon
Rowe Park.

Even more ambitious is the 596 Acres project
, which identified in every last parcel of publicly owned vacant land
in Brooklyn with an eye to opening them up to the community for gardens
and informal parks. The project is now expanding across the city, and
the 596 acres website
offers detailed information on how to begin the process of turning
vacant lots (including those now locked behind fences or privately
owned) into community commons.

Interested?

Welcome to a new kind of movement—one that reshapes how we think about ownership and cooperation.

Just because someone doesn’t bike, doesn’t mean they can’t benefit from cities and towns making biking a priority.